1 Samuel 3.1-10
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was, that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him. So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
1. He ministered but he did not recognize the voice of the Lord
- There are people that are working for the Lord but do not recognize His voice
- Eli was the priest, but there was no open vision
- Some prophets in the OT prophesied what was popular and what the king wanted to hear & were unable to hear the voice of God. They were worthless watchmen.
2. He really knew the Lord
- Not everyone that says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven
- Jesus will say to many “I never knew you”
- You cannot substitute religion for relationship
- The Pharisees said “We are Abraham’s seed” Jesus said “You are of your father the devil”
3. God called to Samuel three times without Samuel hearing God
- God is continually speaking to men
- To the unsaved through nature
- To His people “I continually held out my hand”
4. Samuel finally said “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”
- When we listen, God will speak
- Jesus said “My sheep will hear my voice” “I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice”
- Isaiah 3“Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live;
We hear God…
- Through His Ministers
- Through His Word
- Hebrews 4 12For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
- Through our prayers
The Deaf & Dumb man brought to Jesus
Mark 7 32They brought* to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored* Him to lay His hand on him. 33Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said* to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.
1. He took Him aside by himself
- Some things need to be just between you and Jesus
- Some our hearing problem can be fixed when we get alone
2. He put His fingers in his ears
- Sometimes you got to shut off all the other voices to be able to hear God’s voice
- Since Jesus was unable to communicate to him by talking, He touched the hearing organ in order to show him what He was about to do
